Emmanouel Garoufallou

The use of marketing concepts in library services: a literature review

Purpose – Marketing supports the reaching of organizational goals by focusing on the identification and satisfaction of customer needs, thus it can also contribute considerably in achieving the objectives of non-profit organizations such as libraries. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the literature on the incorporation of marketing notions and the implementation of marketing techniques in library management. It reviews definitions, present different opposing views, marketing issues, social media and Web 2.0 and opinions on the adoption of marketing in a non-profit organization environment, and examines different successful examples of marketing implementation, concentrating on the gains resulting from such a move. Design/methodology/approach – A thorough literature search on various databases and on various aspects of this topic was reviewed. The literature review is organised on emerging themes directly drawn from the literature, thematically and chronologically within each section....

The impact of Facebook on libraries and librarians: a review of the literature

Purpose – Social networking sites are becoming more and more popular triggering an increase in published research and impacting different aspects of daily life. One such aspect concerns libraries and librarians and the way they have adopted social networking sites. The purpose of this paper is to present a selective review on libraries’ adoption and use of a specific social networking site such as Facebook in order to promote their services. Design/methodology/approach – The method of selective review is employed to identify, document and present the relevant literature in a structured and annotated way. More specifically, all types of documents published between 2006 and 2012 are considered. In addition, the papers are assigned based on their expressed aim/s to emerged themes and sub-themes. Findings – It was found that the main body of the reported literature focused on reporting experiences, problems and lessons learned from building a presence on Facebook. A few studies aimed to explore users’ and lib...

Marketing applications in Greek academic library services

Purpose – This paper aims to describe marketing methods, techniques and activities used in Greek academic libraries and their staff perceptions regarding the importance of marketing applications. In addition, it identifies factors which hinder the uptake of marketing, and investigates the evaluation methods used. Design/methodology/approach – There are 151 central and departmental academic libraries in Greece, yet there is limited published research concerning their marketing activities. Therefore, it was intended to discover the reasons behind the low/non-use of marketing in Greek academic libraries. A three-section questionnaire was designed as the main research tool and distributed to 151 libraries. Survey results are presented and analysed according to the structure of the questionnaire. Findings – Whilst marketing techniques and methods are used in academic libraries worldwide, the spread of marketing in Greek academic libraries proved to be limited. Basic operational problems were identified as the ...

The impact of Twitter on libraries: a critical review of the literature

Purpose – The paper aims to present a critical review on the adoption and use of Twitter in libraries. Twitter, a microblogging service, is becoming more and more popular among libraries as a means of reaching users and as a marketing tool for their services. Design/methodology/approach – The method of systematic review is used to identify, collect and critically present all relevant literature. Papers’ aims were analyzed to identify the emergent themes and sub-themes in an effort to gain a better understanding of libraries’ use of Twitter. Findings – A systematic and critical analysis of the literature revealed the specific reasons why a library should adopt Twitter; the specific examples and thoughts on how Twitter could be used to promote libraries’ interests; the different ways Twitter had affected diverse aspects and functionalities of libraries; and the attempts to provide guidelines for librarians. Research limitations/implications – This literature review has implications for research in that libr...

Metadata for Big Data: A preliminary investigation of metadata quality issues in research data repositories

Data-driven approaches to scientific research have generated new types of repositories that provide scientists the means necessary to store, share and re-use big data-sets generated at various stages of the research process. As the number and heterogeneity of research data repositories increase, it becomes critical for scientists to solve data quality problems associated to the data-sets stored in these repositories. To date, several authors have been focused on the data quality issues associated to the data-sets stored in the repositories, yet there is little knowledge about the quality problems of the metadata used to describe these data-sets. Metadata is important for the long-term sustainability of research data repositories and data re-use. The aim of the research reported in this paper was to identify the data quality problems associated with the metadata used in the Dryad data repository. The paper concludes with some recommendations for improving the quality of metadata in research data repositories.

Implementing enhanced OAI-PMH requirements for Europeana

Europeana has put in a stretch many known procedures in digital libraries, imposing requirements difficult to be implemented in many small institutions, often without dedicated systems support personnel. Although there are freely available open source software platforms that provide most of the commonly needed functionality such as OAI-PMH support, the migration from legacy software may not be easy, possible or desired. Furthermore, advanced requirements like selective harvesting according to complex criteria are not widely supported. To accommodate these needs and help institutions contribute their content to Europeana, we developed a series of tools. For the majority of small content providers that are running DSpace, we developed a DSpace plugin, to convert and augment the Dublin Core metadata according to Europeana ESE requirements. For sites with different software, incompatible with OAIPMH, we developed wrappers enabling repeatable generation and harvesting of ESE-compatible metadata via OAI-PMH. In both cases, the system is able to select and harvest only the desired metadata records, according to a variety of configuration criteria of arbitrary complexity. We applied our tools to providers with sophisticated needs, and present the benefits they achieved.

Greek academic librarians' perceptions of the impact of Google on their role as information providers

The increased popularity of Google search engine in the daily routine in one’s workplace and in the academic information seeking process is undeniable. ‘Googling’ challenges the traditional skills of librarians as information providers and the role of library and information service provision in the digital era. This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a qualitative study investigating the perceptions of Greek academic librarians on the impact of Google and ‘Googling’ on their role as information providers in the digital era. To address the needs of this study a set of semi structured interviews was employed with library managers and librarians. The findings of this study revealed that Greek academic librarians use mainly Google Search for its easy information provision but advise on adequate training on Google sources evaluation before use. It was suggested that libraries need to support life-long learning, and enhance their services quality in order to survive. Additionally, IT and managerial skills acquisition seems to be vital. Research also revealed the essential role of LIS departments in the provision of life-long learning and the organisation of training programmes.

Library Facebook practices for creating and promoting a professional profile

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth insight on librarians’ use of the social networking site Facebook as a way to connect and promote interaction with library users. A series of common practices for building and maintaining a Facebook page for information professionals are thoroughly and critically presented. Design/methodology/approach – Two methods were employed for the purposes of this study. Specifically, a systematic review was adopted to identify all the relevant literature concerning librarian’s use of Facebook, and a content analysis of the literature to identify the specific Facebook features used, the way these were employed by librarians, and the reasons these specific features were chosen. Findings – In total, 12 Facebook features used by librarians in the literature were identified through content analysis. The creation of the librarian’s Facebook Profile was the most important featured employed followed by Groups Messages, Wall Posts, Events and Friends. Research li...

A critical introduction to metadata for e-science and e-research

Scientific research is moving towards multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration and therefore powerful tools and infrastructures based on interoperability principles are needed to support this trend. This paper introduces the special issue on the metadata for e-science and e-research of the International Journal on Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies. This special issue seeks to draw attention to the on-going challenges that scientists and systems developers face in the area of metadata and data management for e-science and e-research. In particular, the objectives of this special issue are a to present some of the latest research in this field, especially in relation to the use of metadata for addressing challenges associated with the management of scientific and research data across a broad range of applications; and b to highlight some of the challenges associated with the use of metadata, and encourage further research in this area. The special issue includes four papers reporting innovative approaches to key issues in the area of metadata for e-science and e-research, such as metadata modelling and standardisation, data quality and data re-use.

Change and a Future for Metadata

Future predictions generally resolve some place between a desired outcome and a predetermined path set by fixed circumstances. This essay explores the future of metadata, recognizing the impossibility of creating a precise road map comingled with the fact that researchers and practitioners do, in fact, have some capacity to impact future plans. We address the unprecedented time in which we live, shaped by the latest networked and technological capacities. Observations presented address the future province of metadata, a role for metadata in addressing grand challenges, and emerging synergistic environments. The conclusion summarizes these observations and confirms the significance of metadata.